Education in South Korea - Controversy and Criticism

Controversy and Criticism

• Lee Ju-ho, the Minister representing the Ministry of Education & Science Technology, announced a plan on February 8, 2011 to dispatch un-hired reserve teachers overseas for extra training despite the opposition from the Korean Teachers Union and other public workers in the city-level and the provincial level.
• South Korean schools have a strong tendency to neglect physical education due to the over-competitive nature of classroom-based education.
• 81% of middle and high schools forbid relationships among students.
• A citizen group under the Unification Church gives out sexual virginity awards under an uncertain standard.
• South Korea has the highest student suicide rate among the OECD.
• The social stigmatization in Korea of trade or vocational careers (often dismissed as DDD jobs, 'dirty, dangerous, and demeaning') means that university graduates often have difficulty in finding jobs while occupational positions sometimes go unfilled.
• There are concerns of overload of schoolworks and exam preparations that could threaten the students' health and emotions.
• The South Korean education system does not allow any leeways for students' rights. The Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Kwak No Hyun made a remark how "it is very embarrassing to discuss verbosely about the poor development of students' rights within the South Korean society" during his seminar on March 3, 2011.
• There are concerns about the severe lack of community spirit among South Korean students that comes from examinations as the main educational direction and from an analysis according to Dr. Lee Mi-na from SNU Sociology: "harsh competition-oriented and success-oriented parenting among the parents".
• The Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations (한국교원단체총연합회) announced that 40% of teachers are not satisfied with the loss of teachers' powers in classroom due to the new Teachers' Evaluation System.
• The Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Korean Federation of Teachers' Association signed an MOU on May 25, 2011 to a verbose national security education to younger kids, in which it potentially violates the UN Children's Rights protocol.
• OECD ranked South Korean elementary, middle, and high school students the lowest in terms of happiness compared to other OECD countries. This survey also echoes similar results to students in Seoul according to SMOE.
• Dr. Seo Yu-hyeon, a brain expert from Seoul National University Faculty of Medicines criticized South Korea's private educations among toddlers due to the forceful nature of these educational pursuits that could deteriorate creativity and block any healthy brain development.
• The Korean Educational Development Institute reports that the majority of university students lacks the ability to ask questions to instructors mainly due to the education system that promotes examinations and instructors having too many students to handle.
• A survey from the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations found out that 79.5% of the schoolteachers are not satisfied with their careers; a growing trend that has been for three years straight.
• The accounts of sexual abuses in school are increasing.

On December 19, 2011, a student committed suicide by jumping from the roof of an apartment building after being subject to harsh bullying by classmates. This event caused an uproar among parents and students and brought national attention to the violence and bullying prevalent in many of South Korea's schools. As a result, two teens believed to be largely involved in the harassment of the student were given a two-year prison sentence. The victim attended Dukwon Middle School (ko:덕원중학교 (대구)), Daegu, South Korea. Many students commit suicide because of bullying or poor grades and Lee Myung-bak call to changed law against school violence.